Porous

Previously published in The Lingua Journal

Because the apricot pit pore scrub teaches me / that it is cleansing to tear the skin I do not like / and because Christ mocked the men unwilling to change and said / so cut off the hand that causes you to sin / when I do not like what my eyes see / I clutch the dessert spoon / that I should have thrown out with the Oreo ice cream and cottage cheese and celery / and I scoop / and the delivery is delicious / and I am delivered / and pain is a redemption that tastes like apricots / the because becoming a sweet pelt of vacancy / purity an emptiness ensured / by removal of the wrinkled brown core / a hollow leaking syrup / syrup prophesying the end / of imperfection / the end of seeing myself imperfect / the end of seeing / myself.